Pilots, planespotters and aviation buffs can quickly recognize nearly every aircraft type from the ground or in the air.

But it’s not so easy for the rest of us. To help TravelSkills readers confidently recognize what they see overhead or out on the runway, we offer a series of posts dedicated to planespotting. (See below for a list of our previous Planespotting posts)

The Airbus A320 family is near ubiquitous around the world, and increasingly so in the US. Airbus factories pump out a new A320 family aircraft every seven hours!

The largest of the pack, the A321, is rapidly replacing the aging Boeing 757 at many airlines. The A320 gives the workhorse Boeing 737 a run for its money. And the smaller A319 and A318s work for short haul markets, although British Airways operates a specially configured 32-seat, all business class A318 between London City Airport and New York-JFK once per day. (That’s down from twice daily)

How can you spot the differences among these planes? Well, first, you will want to know how to spot the difference between the A320 family and the similarly-sized Boeing 737, which we covered for you here: Planespotting: Airbus A320 vs Boeing 737 differences. (Hint: Look at the tail and cockpit windows.)

Once you’ve learned to distinguish the A320 family, you should then know how to spot the differences among the four models.

The easiest way to do that? Look at the doors.

A321: Four doors

The A321 is the largest member of the Airbus A320 family, and accommodates 185-220 passengers depending on configuration.

(This is a blast from the past- a previously popular post we want to share again. Enjoy!)

The Airbus A321 has four doors evenly spaced along the fuselage (Photo: Anna Zverena / Flickr)

A320: Two over-wing emergency exits

The Airbus A320 is the mainstay of the family, and carries 150-180 passengers depending on configuration. Virgin America flies 53 Airbus A320s. United flies 97 A320s.

The Airbus A320 has two distinctive emergency exit doors over the wing (Photo: Lasta29 / Flickr)

A319: One over-wing emergency exit

An exception to this one-door A319 is EasyJet, which had to retrofit its A319s with an extra emergency exit because it packs so many passengers on a plane.

The Airbus A319 has only one emergency exit door over the wing (Photo: Andre Gembitzki / Flickr)

A318: short, stubby, super-cute- and one door

This little aircraft with only 100 seats is also known as the “baby bus” due to it’s size and cuteness factor.

The super stubby A318 has a single emergency exit, too. But it’s shorter than the A319 (Photo: Bernal Saborio / Flickr)

How do YOU tell the difference between the Airbus A320 family? Leave your comments below.

Can you tell the difference between the A320 and the B737 in this shot? (Angelo DeSantis / Flickr)

Pilots, planespotters and aviation buffs can quickly recognize nearly every aircraft type from the ground or in the air.

But it’s not so easy for the rest of us. To help TravelSkills readers confidently recognize what they see overhead or out on the runway, we offer up a series of posts dedicated to one of our favorite pastimes-Planespotting!

The Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 are two of the most popular single-aisle planes flying. They are about the same size and look quite similar to the untrained eye.

See the pointy nose on the Boeing 737? The dorsal-like fin leading up to the tail? (Photo: Colin Brown / Flickr)

See the more bulbous nose on the Airbus? (Aero Icarus / Flickr)

The 737 is Boeing’s most widely produced aircraft and has nine variants flown by almost all major domestic airlines, especially Southwest, which operates only 737s and has 725 of ’em! Delta flies about 150.

The Airbus A320 (along with the similar A318, 319 and 321) is more popular overseas, but in the U.S., they comprise 100% of Virgin America’s fleet and much of JetBlue’s. American Airlines has the largest Airbus fleet in the world, including 384 in the A320 family. United has about 160. Delta has 141 A319s, A320s and A321s.

(This is a blast from the past- a previously popular post we want to share again. Enjoy!)

Note the Airbus nose and windows (PurplePoulpe / Flickr)

Note the pointy nose and angular window in the Boeing (PurplePoulpe / Flickr)

One of the easiest ways to tell the difference between a 737 and an A320 is by looking at the nose of the plane. Boeing jets tend to have pointy noses compared to Airbus noses which are more rounded and bulbous.

You can also look at the outer edge of the cockpit windows. On a 737 (and most Boeing jets), the windows have a sharp diagonal corner while the A320s windows are more square.

Also, look at the tail of both jets. The 737 has tail has small dorsal- like fin that extends at a slight angle from the top of the fuselage to the tail. That’s absent on the A320’s smaller tail. See it? (scroll up)

The A320 also has a larger, more distinctive tail cone than the 737.

When flying the 737 or A320, do you notice much difference? Do you have a preference? Please leave your comments below.

Last week Delta welcomed a brand new aircraft to its fleet, the Airbus A321. This narrow-body aircraft seats 192 passengers– about as many as Delta’s workhorse 757s. In coming years, Delta’s new 737-900s as well as the A321s will replace its old and unloved fleet of Boeing 757s, which seat around 185 passengers, depending on configuration.

Delta will take on a total of 15 A321s this year, and 30 more by 2018. Initially the planes will come from Airbus’ assembly facility in Hamburg, Germany, but later on, deliveries will come from a new Airbus plant in Mobile, Alabama.

Initially the A321s will be deployed on routes between Atlanta and Florida cities, but eventually they will be used on longer haul domestic flights.

The A321 is super popular among US carriers these days– for example, both American and JetBlue use the A321 for their transcontinental flights between New York and California. American alone flies about 180 Airbus A321s.

Delta currently has about 125 Airbus A319’s and A320s– so how can you spot the difference between an Airbus A319, A320 and an A321? Read this TravelSkills planespotting post to find out! (Hint: Look at the doors.)

First class on a Delta A321 (Photo: Delta)

Delta’s A321 will seat 20 in first, 29 in Comfort+ and 143 economy. Delta says seats on the A321 are “among the widest in the industry.” All seats get live seatback satellite TV, wi-fi and 110v power outlets.

The plane also features larger, high-capacity overhead bins, LED ambient lighting, Delta’s new textured seat design.

Seatback entertainment and power plugs at every seat on Delta’s new A321 (Photo: Delta)

Comfort+ on Delta’s new A321 (Photo: Delta)

Delta’s A321 arrives (Photo: Delta)

UPDATE April 29: Today Delta announced that it has ordered 37 more Airbus A321s, and now has 82 of the new birds on the books.

Readers: What do you think of Delta’s newest jets? Are they better than its tatty 757s– most of which are more than 20 years old? Please leave your comments below.

Headed west out over open water on one of Virgin’s new ETOPS rated A320s (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Last week I jumped on a Virgin America flight to the islands- my first since the carrier launched nonstops from San Francisco to Honolulu and Maui late last year. It has since announced that it will add nonstops from LAX to Hawaii later this year.

Virgin’s entry into the Hawaii market has helped spur a fare war, with flights frequently falling into the low $300’s round trip from the west coast- quite a good bargain! The California-to-Hawaii market is packed with nonstops from nearly every other US carrier, including Alaska, American, Delta, Hawaiian and United.

“Flights with Benefits” is the racy name for one of Virgin America’s new A320 ETOPS jets (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

To be able to offer these flights, Virgin needed a new plane, an ETOPS-rated Airbus A320 (pictured above) that is equipped to fly long distances over water. So that’s the first thing I noticed when I boarded– that “new plane smell” as well as a shimmering new surfaces lit with purple hues from its mod mood lighting.

This A320 also has the newer, higher-definition version of the RED seatback entertainment system– which includes a much more robust, interactive inflight mapping program that kept me occupied for hours. (I am usually much more entertained by the inflight map than inflight movies!)

Despite the fab new seatback system, I was disappointed to learn that the plane’s satellite-based connectivity system is not working yet, which means no inflight internet or live TV for the 5+ hour flight. Flight attendants rolled their eyes when I asked about this…saying that it’s a very common complaint from Virgin America regulars who love their inflight wi-fi. Regrettably they said that they don’t expect it to be operable until “later this year.” A Virgin spokesperson responded, “Not quite yet” when I asked when the service would be working.

Despite connectivity issues, the RED system does not disappoint– even without a connection, there’s a full roster of very good, current movies and TV shows to watch, some great indie and international choices, and that wonderful inflight mapping feature.

While this picture-of-a-picture is grainy, in real life seat back map images are sharp & interactive (Chris McGinnis)

Another downside on these 5+ hour nonstops is crowding at the back of the plane when lines for for the two lavatories form. On my flight, there was a nearly constant queue back there, especially 2-3 hours in. That’s uncomfortable for passengers seated the last 3-4 rows as well as flight attendants who told me that due to a new configuration of the galley area, they are unable to sit down for rest breaks. Luckily on this flight I upgraded to Main Cabin Select, and was seated in row 10 over the wing (exit row).

Overall, the flight was very nice and a standout when compared to other carriers– much like nearly all my Virgin America experiences. But to be honest, I was hoping for a bit more fun and celebration about the fact that we were flying to Hawaii. A lei, a flower or slice of pineapple in a cocktail, an aloha shirt or maybe a little ukele music over the PA system would have been a nice addition. All I saw that celebrated this a flight to paradise was a can of POG (Passion, Orange, Guava) juice available on the seatback food & drink ordering system. Nonetheless, the flight was pleasant and on-time.

Take a spin through my trip in the slides below:

At 6:45 am, PreCheck at SFO’s Terminal 2 was a breeze (Chris McGinnis)

Gorgeous sunrise lights up our new A320 and SFO control tower for a 7:30 am departure (Chris McGinnis)

JetBlue’s A320s (pictured) and some A321s will get new seating and tech improvements. (Image: JetBlue)

Passengers on JetBlue’s Airbus A320s and some of its A321s can expect to see more seats in the future, along with a more connected tech experience.

The airline said this week that it plans to increase the seat count in 15 of its “all-core” A321s (not including those transcontinental A321s equipped with Mint service, which will remain unchanged) from the current 190 to 200, while JetBlue’s 130 A320s will go from the current 150 seats to 162.

According to JetBlue, the increases in seat count will be made possible by the installation of a new galley/lavatory module developed by Airbus called the Space-Flex v2. Those installations “will free additional space” in the cabins, “requiring a reconfiguration of seating,” JetBlue said.

The airline did not say how the reconfiguration might impact seat pitch — currently 34 inches on A320s and 33 on A321s, except for seven extra-legroom rows with more — but it did say that its cabins will still boast “the most legroom in coach” compared to other U.S. airlines.

The aircraft will get new Pinnacle seats from BE Aerospace with moveable headrests, AC outlets and USB ports at every seat, as well as new LED cabin lighting systems.

Economy class on a Mint configured A321 – all JetBlue seats will soon have 10 inch monitors like these (Chris McGinnis)

Work on the A321s will start in the second half of this year, while the A320 overhaul will take place from 2017 to 2019.

JetBlue said the A320s will also get a technology overhaul that links their seatback TVs to the in-flight Wi-Fi service, and new seatback screens that will be 10-inch, high-definition models, almost twice as large as the current screens.

This will enable streaming TV entertainment through a system built on Google’s Android platform. JetBlue said the new system will mean “unlimited possibilities for custom app and widget development, live content streaming, audio-and-video-on-demand, and personal device pairing to offer more entertainment options than ever.” Besides the streaming content, JetBlue’s DirecTV service will increase from 36 to 100 channels, and its in-flight film library will be able to deliver 300 movies.

Passengers will have gate-to-gate access to JetBlue’s Fly-Fi high-speed wireless Internet service, offering speeds of 12 to 20 Mbps to each linked device, the airline noted.

Passengers who fly on Delta’s Airbus A319s will soon start seeing new interiors and technology (and more seats) as the airline carries out what it calls “a nose-to-tail modification” of the 57 A319s in its fleet.

The first of the overhauled 132-seat aircraft enters service this week, with more to come in the weeks and months ahead. The company will also put the new interiors into its 69 larger A320s, with work on all Delta’s Airbus narrow-bodies to be finished by the middle of 2017.

The modified aircraft will also get new galleys and “an innovative, pod-like overhead passenger service unit,” the airline said. It added that the installation of the new entertainment systems in the A320s might take through 2018.

Pilots, planespotters and aviation buffs can quickly recognize nearly every aircraft type from the ground or in the air.

But it’s not so easy for the rest of us.

To help TravelSkills readers confidently recognize what they see overhead or out on the runway, we offer a series of posts dedicated to Planespotting 101. (See below for a list of our previous Planespotting posts)

The Airbus A320 family is near ubiquitous around the world, and increasingly so in the US. Airbus factories pump out a new A320 family aircraft every seven hours!

The largest of the pack, the A321, is rapidly replacing the aging Boeing 757 at many airlines. The A320 gives the workhorse Boeing 737 a run for its money. And the smaller A319 and A318s work for short haul markets, although British Airways operates a specially configured 32-seat, all business class A318 between London City Airport and New York-JFK.

How can you spot the differences among these planes? Well, first, you will want to know how to spot the difference between the A320 family and the similarly-sized Boeing 737, which we covered for you here: Planespotting 101: Airbus A320 vs Boeing 737. (Hint: Look at the tail and cockpit windows.)

Once you’ve learned to distinguish the A320 family, you should then know how to spot the differences among the four models.

The easiest way to do that? Look at the doors.

The Airbus A321 has four doors evenly spaced along the fuselage (Photo: Anna Zverena / Flickr)

A321: Four doors

The A321 is the largest member of the Airbus A320 family, and accommodates 185-220 passengers depending on configuration. Delta will get its first A321s next year.

The Airbus A320 has two distinctive emergency exit doors over the wing (Photo: Lasta29 / Flickr)

A320: Two over-wing emergency exits

The Airbus A320 is the mainstay of the family, and carries 150-180 passengers depending on configuration. Virgin America flies 43 Airbus A320s and 10 A319s. United flies nearly 100 A320s.

The Airbus A319 has only one emergency exit door over the wing (Photo: Andre Gembitzki / Flickr)

A319: One over-wing emergency exit

An exception to this one-door A319 is EasyJet, which had to retrofit its A319s with an extra emergency exit because it packs so many passengers on a plane.

The super stubby A318 has a single emergency exit, too. But it’s shorter than the A319 (Photo: Bernal Saborio / Flickr)

A318: short, stubby, super-cute

This little aircraft with only 100 seats is also known as the “baby bus” due to it’s size and cuteness factor.

How do YOU tell the difference between the Airbus A320 family? Leave your comments below.

Can you tell the difference between the A320 and the B737 in this shot? (Angelo DeSantis / Flickr)

Pilots, planespotters and aviation buffs can quickly recognize nearly every aircraft type from the ground or in the air.

But it’s not so easy for the rest of us.

To help TravelSkills readers confidently recognize what they see overhead or out on the runway, we are going to offer up a series of posts dedicated to Planespotting 101. (Here’s last week’s post about the Boeing 717 and MD80/90 series)

See the pointy nose on the Boeing 737? The dorsal-like fin leading up to the tail? (Photo: Colin Brown / Flickr)

See the more bulbous nose on the Airbus? (Aero Icarus / Flickr)

The Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 are two of the most popular single-aisle planes flying. They are about the same size and look quite similar to the untrained eye.

The 737 is Boeing’s most widely produced aircraft and has nine variants flown by almost all major domestic airlines, especially Southwest, which operates only 737s and has 665 of ’em! Delta flies about 100.

The Airbus A320 (along with the similar A318, 319 and 321) is more popular overseas, but in the US, they comprise 100% of Virgin America’s fleet and much of JetBlue’s. US Airways has the largest Airbus fleet in the world, including nearly 270 in the A320 family. United has about 160. Delta has 105 A319s and A320s.

Note the pointy nose and angular window in the Boeing (PurplePoulpe / Flickr)

The easiest way to tell the difference between a 737 and an A320 is by looking at the nose of the plane. Boeing jets tend to have pointy noses compared to Airbus noses which are more rounded and bulbous.

You can also look at the outer edge of the cockpit windows. On a 737, the windows have a sharp diagonal corner while the A320s windows are more square.

Also, look at the tail of both jets. The 737 has tail has small dorsal- like fin that extends at a slight angle from the top of the fuselage to the tail. That’s absent on the A320’s smaller tail. See it? The A320 also has a larger, more distinctive tail cone than the 737.

When flying the 737 or A320, do you notice much difference? Do you have a preference? Please leave your comments below.

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Editor Chris McGinnis

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